4th Line Center

[Damian]

http://twitter.com/#!/andystrickland/status/90511102680637441
@andystrickland
Andy Strickland
Wellwood has reached out to some NHL clubs but not one went out of their way to call him #Sharks #NHL

.. not that any one was seriously thinking of Kyle - just an fyi

ummm.... not.... at least not till you brought it up

 

[cw]

http://twitter.com/#!/andystrickland/status/90511102680637441
@andystrickland
Andy Strickland
Wellwood has reached out to some NHL clubs but not one went out of their way to call him #Sharks #NHL

.. not that any one was seriously thinking of Kyle - just an fyi

If it wasn't for the fact that we need size right now in that spot, I wouldn't have had a problem giving him a look. He's a much better/different player than he was in his first time around here.

Depending on the team ...

if he was a 14th forward, he could provide center depth as a good faceoff guy, PP specialist and shootout help. If a team gave him more ice time than Colton Orr in that role (assuming they'd have a need for his skills/depth), they'd probably win more games.

If I coached in the league, I'd probably tinker more with the 4th line to adjust the  forwards best suited against a particular team - particularly in special teams situations. Some nights it might be an enforcer, some nights a PP/shootout specialist or some nights a PK specialist that starts the game bouncing a less needed skill for that game.

Back when, I considered Jeremy Williams that way. If my PP sucked and I needed a NHL caliber shot, he'd get 5 mins of PP time and my PP would be better off for it - instead of my enforcer riding the bench waiting for a fight that isn't likely to happen against some teams.

That sort of thinking would vary by the skills available within the roster talent.

Here's a crazy statement that I suspect would be true: if you assembled Kyle Wellwood, Luca Caputi/Tie Domi (guys with the gonads to park their fanny in front of the net) and Jeremy Williams as a PP unit, they'd out perform a number of second unit PP lines in the NHL.

I don't think we see enough of this in the NHL. Most guys want ice time. With their fitness of today, a lot can play 18 mins/game. That leaves less than 6 mins per game for your 4th line of specialists because some ice time is lost to penalties. If I'm in a small market, struggling to compete, that's something I would look at more because when those 4th liners would play, they're coming in to do something they're as good at as top 6/top PK players.

Just a rough thought.

 

[gilmourthegreat]

TORONTO  - One of the youngest teams in the NHL last season, the Maple Leafs have become decidedly older in the off-season.

We?re not talking greybeards by any stretch, but barring any more moves, Tim Connolly and John-Michael Liles will represent the elderly when training camp opens in September. Today, they?re the only 30-year-olds on the Leafs? roster.

The Leafs didn?t set out to add age this summer.

?You don?t want older guys who can?t play,? assistant general manager Claude Loiselle said on Wednesday. ?The key is, can they help the process? We feel we have a good core group, with (captain) Dion (Phaneuf) being our leader, and it?s good enough.?

I take exception to the first sentence:
http://nhlnumbers.com/teams?sort=average_age&order=asc&year=
According to NHLnumbers.com, the Leafs average NHL age is the youngest in the league.

Liles is 3 yrs younger than Kaberle. -3
Aulie is 9 yrs younger than Beauchemin -9
Reimer is 11 younger than Giguere -11
Franson is 6 yrs younger than Lebda -6
Connolly is only 3 yrs older than Brent +3
Lupul is 2 years older than Versteeg +2
Kadri is 8 yrs younger than Sjostrum -8

that's probably not all of them but tallies -32 - which is a year and a half younger on average (over the roster) while the rest of the roster got a year older.

Contrary to the article, this remains a very young NHL team.

I think a lot of folks are looking at where the team was at the last game of the year versus where they'll be at the first game. From the start of last season though, there's no doubt they're younger, nor is there any doubt that they're among the youngest in the league...

I think the dots at the of of your post express a reservation about this team a lot of us have. Burke and co. have said they are confident in the ability of the team as is to make the playoffs. They have also made it so that this team is the youngest, and I would have to imagine one of the most inexperienced, teams in the league. How often does a team like that make the playoffs, especially without a bonafide superstar?

Personally, I would like it if Burke traded for a couple of mentally tough, team-oriented veterans, basically some Brad May types. I am concerned about the fragility of this team if they go through an early losing streak, particularly with an already abraisive Ron Wilson's job in imminent jeopardy. I was really hoping for Arnott, but now I would see if we could pry Jarret Stoll away from the Kings or, unless I'm missing a reason why he is still unsigned, see if Mike Grier would take a reasonable offer.

 

[hockeyfan1]

TORONTO  - One of the youngest teams in the NHL last season, the Maple Leafs have become decidedly older in the off-season.

We?re not talking greybeards by any stretch, but barring any more moves, Tim Connolly and John-Michael Liles will represent the elderly when training camp opens in September. Today, they?re the only 30-year-olds on the Leafs? roster.

The Leafs didn?t set out to add age this summer.

?You don?t want older guys who can?t play,? assistant general manager Claude Loiselle said on Wednesday. ?The key is, can they help the process? We feel we have a good core group, with
(captain) Dion (Phaneuf) being our leader, and it?s good enough.?

I take exception to the first sentence:
http://nhlnumbers.com/teams?sort=average_age&order=asc&year=
According to NHLnumbers.com, the Leafs average NHL age is the youngest in the league.

Liles is 3 yrs younger than Kaberle. -3
Aulie is 9 yrs younger than Beauchemin -9
Reimer is 11 younger than Giguere -11
Franson is 6 yrs younger than Lebda -6
Connolly is only 3 yrs older than Brent +3
Lupul is 2 years older than Versteeg +2
Kadri is 8 yrs younger than Sjostrum -8

that's probably not all of them but tallies -32 - which is a year and a half younger on average (over the roster) while the rest of the roster got a year older.

Contrary to the article, this remains a very young NHL team.

I think a lot of folks are looking at where the team was at the last game of the year versus where they'll be at the first game. From the start of last season though, there's no doubt they're younger, nor is there any doubt that they're among the youngest in the league...

I think the dots at the of of your post express a reservation about this team a lot of us have. Burke and co. have said they are confident in the ability of the team as is to make the playoffs. They have also made it so that this team is the youngest, and I would have to imagine one of the most
inexperienced, teams in the league. How often does a team like that make the playoffs, especially
without a bonafide superstar?

Personally, I would like it if Burke traded for a couple of mentally tough, team-oriented veterans, basically some Brad May types. I am concerned about the fragility of this team if they go through an early losing streak, particularly with an already abraisive Ron Wilson's job in imminent jeopardy. I
was really hoping for Arnott, but now I would see if we could pry Jarret Stoll away from the Kings or,
unless I'm missing a reason why he is still unsigned, see if Mike Grier would take a reasonable offer.

Speaking of the Kings, they were the second-youngest team in the league -- after the Leafs. 

 

[maplesyrup]

DownGoesBrown Down Goes Brown
NOOOOOO! RT @kevin_mcgran: sorry @downgoesbrown, Chris Durno signs with Hurricanes
5 minutes ago

 

[Omallley]

TORONTO  - One of the youngest teams in the NHL last season, the Maple Leafs have become decidedly older in the off-season.

We?re not talking greybeards by any stretch, but barring any more moves, Tim Connolly and John-Michael Liles will represent the elderly when training camp opens in September. Today, they?re the only 30-year-olds on the Leafs? roster.

The Leafs didn?t set out to add age this summer.

?You don?t want older guys who can?t play,? assistant general manager Claude Loiselle said on Wednesday. ?The key is, can they help the process? We feel we have a good core group, with (captain) Dion (Phaneuf) being our leader, and it?s good enough.?

I take exception to the first sentence:
http://nhlnumbers.com/teams?sort=average_age&order=asc&year=
According to NHLnumbers.com, the Leafs average NHL age is the youngest in the league.

Liles is 3 yrs younger than Kaberle. -3
Aulie is 9 yrs younger than Beauchemin -9
Reimer is 11 younger than Giguere -11
Franson is 6 yrs younger than Lebda -6
Connolly is only 3 yrs older than Brent +3
Lupul is 2 years older than Versteeg +2
Kadri is 8 yrs younger than Sjostrum -8

that's probably not all of them but tallies -32 - which is a year and a half younger on average (over the roster) while the rest of the roster got a year older.

Contrary to the article, this remains a very young NHL team.

I think a lot of folks are looking at where the team was at the last game of the year versus where they'll be at the first game. From the start of last season though, there's no doubt they're younger, nor is there any doubt that they're among the youngest in the league...

I think the dots at the of of your post express a reservation about this team a lot of us have. Burke and co. have said they are confident in the ability of the team as is to make the playoffs. They have also made it so that this team is the youngest, and I would have to imagine one of the most inexperienced, teams in the league. How often does a team like that make the playoffs, especially without a bonafide superstar?

Personally, I would like it if Burke traded for a couple of mentally tough, team-oriented veterans, basically some Brad May types. I am concerned about the fragility of this team if they go through an early losing streak, particularly with an already abraisive Ron Wilson's job in imminent jeopardy. I was really hoping for Arnott, but now I would see if we could pry Jarret Stoll away from the Kings or, unless I'm missing a reason why he is still unsigned, see if Mike Grier would take a reasonable offer.

I can't imagine that the Kings would trade him (or rather, that the price they would ask to move him would be too high), but he would be a pretty good option, certainly one of the best faceoff men in the league, and has decent size. He'd be overpaid as a third liner (but I'd love to see him with Armstrong...push Bozak to the 4th line?), but he'd be the kind of guy who could fill in for an injury above him (Connolly, for example). I wonder if Richards makes him expendable in the eyes of the Kings?

 

[cw]

DownGoesBrown Down Goes Brown
NOOOOOO! RT @kevin_mcgran: sorry @downgoesbrown, Chris Durno signs with Hurricanes
5 minutes ago

If Rutherford signed him, he's not a complete joke.

 

[Omallley]

DownGoesBrown Down Goes Brown
NOOOOOO! RT @kevin_mcgran: sorry @downgoesbrown, Chris Durno signs with Hurricanes
5 minutes ago

If Rutherford signed him, he's not a complete joke.

And very likely an ex-Leaf

 

[Arn]

Mike Brown is a 4th line beast! He exemplifies exactly what every team looks for....

Mike Brown is just a beast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaUbG7pWh4s

 

[Zee]

Mike Brown is a 4th line beast! He exemplifies exactly what every team looks for....

Mike Brown is just a beast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaUbG7pWh4s

I've never really thought much of 4th line players seeing as they don't play all that often, but Brown continues to be a nice addition to the Leafs lineup.  He can actually contribute and isn't just a guy who plays on the 4th line.

 

[Erndog]

Mike Brown is a 4th line beast! He exemplifies exactly what every team looks for....

Mike Brown is just a beast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaUbG7pWh4s

I've never really thought much of 4th line players seeing as they don't play all that often, but Brown continues to be a nice addition to the Leafs lineup.  He can actually contribute and isn't just a guy who plays on the 4th line.

Same can be said for Steckal.  Decent penalty killer, excellent faceoff man, gives us some size, and has 3 goals.

Brown-Steckal have been two pretty useful guys so far this year. 

 

[leafplasma]

Yes the last minute addition of Steckel and how he has played. The surprise of Gardiner and Frattin making the club and playing well and knowing that they can only get better. Finally the domination by Kessel so far makes me feel like Toronto may be the Cinderella team this year. You know it is time we lay claim to a monacher like that isn't it?

 

[ZBBM]

Saying Steckel has been useful is a huge understatement.  His faceoff %age is out of this world.  In fact, I think you could argue that his work there and on the PK has been the catalyst of the club's good start.  This is a squad that really needs to start with the puck ... IIRC during last year's collapse they were getting smoked on faceoffs and were chasing the play way too much as a result.

 

[leafplasma]

Saying Steckel has been useful is a huge understatement.  His faceoff %age is out of this world.  In fact, I think you could argue that his work there and on the PK has been the catalyst of the club's good start.  This is a squad that really needs to start with the puck ... IIRC during last year's collapse they were getting smoked on faceoffs and were chasing the play way too much as a result.

Really shows how important role players can be.  You really just can't expect to win by throwing just anybody on the third and fourth line.  When you look at the truly great teams, there are always guys like Steckel, the unsung heroes.

 

[Scot4bz]

Saying Steckel has been useful is a huge understatement.  His faceoff %age is out of this world.  In fact, I think you could argue that his work there and on the PK has been the catalyst of the club's good start.  This is a squad that really needs to start with the puck ... IIRC during last year's collapse they were getting smoked on faceoffs and were chasing the play way too much as a result.

Really shows how important role players can be.  You really just can't expect to win by throwing just anybody on the third and fourth line.  When you look at the truly great teams, there are always guys like Steckel, the unsung heroes.

Totally agree. The nice thing about Steckel is the versatility he has shown. Not only good on the faceoffs, but plays a pretty decent overall game and seems to be a good team guy.

 

[maplesyrup]

Make that two late addition pleasant surprises in a row (MacArthur and Steckel._